At Least One Delco Water System Contains "Erin Brockovich" Carcinogen: Study

A water system in Delaware County has been shown to contain a cancer-causing chemical, according to a new study by the Environmental Working Group. The chemical, chromium-6, was made infamous in the 200o Julie Roberts film "Erin Brockovich."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the limit for chromium-6 in water systems is 100 parts per billion, a regulation the study calls "outdated." California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, however, set a chromium-6 limit of just .02 parts per billion as a public health standard, the study says.

"The California scientists set a so-called public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion in tap water, the level that would pose negligible risk over a lifetime of consumption," the study says. It also claims "state scientists in California and elsewhere say (chromium-6) causes cancer when ingested at even extraordinarily low levels."

According to the study, the Chester Water Authority was shown to have 0.096 ppb of chromium-6. You can explore the study's interactive map to see how other areas are affected.

The toxin causes cancer, reproductive problems and liver damage even from little exposure, the report says. Environmental Working Group estimates that if left untreated, Chromium-6 in tap water will cause more than 12,000 excess cases of cancer by the end of the century.

California set 0.02 parts per billion as its goal after Brockovich was successful in building a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993 that blamed the company for contaminating local water.

The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment, analyzed federal data from nationwide drinking water tests showing that the compound contaminates water supplies for more than 200 million Americans in all 50 states.

"Yet federal regulations are stalled by a chemical industry challenge that could mean no national regulation of a chemical state scientists in California and elsewhere say causes cancer when ingested at even extraordinarily low levels," according to the report.

Click here to see the full list of Pennsylvania towns included in the study.

Read the full study at the Environmental Working Group website here.

EPA STATEMENT ON CHROMIUM IN DRINKING WATER

Ensuring safe drinking water for all Americans is a top priority for EPA. The agency has taken many actions to improve information on chromium and its potential health risks in drinking water. EPA and states are responsible for ensuring that public water systems are in compliance with the current standard for total chromium.

The agency has also collected nationally representative data on the occurrence of both total chromium and hexavalent chromium through the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3).

EPA is actively working on the development of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of hexavalent chromium, which will include a comprehensive evaluation of potential health effects associated with hexavalent chromium, and EPA expects that the draft IRIS assessment will be released for public comment in 2017.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, before EPA can decide whether to regulate a contaminant, it must meet three criteria:

• The contaminant may have an adverse effect on the health of persons;
• is known to occur or there is a substantial likelihood that the contaminant will occur in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of public health concern; and
• in the sole judgment of the EPA Administrator, the regulation of the contaminant presents a meaningful opportunity for health risk reductions for persons served by public water systems.
EPA has a drinking water standard of 0.1 milligrams per liter (mg/l) or 100 parts per billion (ppb) for total chromium.

This includes all forms of chromium, including hexavalent chromium. Only one of the almost 5,000 public water systems that monitored total chromium under the UCMR3 reported results that exceeded EPA’s standard.

Patch file photo